Your Silence Means More Blood - CFD Letter Signing Campaign

Thousands of people joined hands with the Citizens for Democracy (CFD), by participating and signing letters in the drive “Silence Means More Blood” launched on Saturday, March 12, 2011.

A camp was set up in front of Jahangir Kothari Parade in Clifton, Karachi, where people signed and posted letters addressed to the president, prime minister, interior minister and chief justice of Pakistan for interfaith harmony and action against calls for violence and vigilante justice. In the letter, CFD demanded that notice and action be taken against the rampant lawlessness in Pakistan, an atmosphere in which extremist and militant forces are operating with impunity, and where calls to murder and violence are publicly made, celebrated and rewarded.

Referring to the murder of Federal Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti and Governor Salmaan Taseer, the letter urged the government and its functionaries to swiftly apprehend, charge, try and punish the murderers of Mr Bhatti and Mr Taseer. It urged political parties, parliamentarians and government functionaries to take a clear stand on the blasphemy issue: no citizen has the right to cast aspersions on the faith and beliefs of any other citizen or to term someone a ‘blasphemer,’ ‘kafir,’ or ‘non-Muslim.’

The campaign aimed to dissipate the atmosphere of intimidation, draw people out of their homes and enable them to speak up and voice their concerns by directing them to the relevant authorities.